Peyton Manning Is The Best QB Ever & Other Things We Learned In NFL Week 7

Peyton Manning continued re-writing the NFL record books, and the Dallas Cowboys continued to be the NFL's hottest team. Here's what we learned on Sunday:

Peyton Manning Is Better Than Brett Favre

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Peyton Manningthrew four touchdown passes — the third of which broke Brett Favre's NFL career mark — and the Broncos blew out the San Francisco 49ers, 42-17, in Denver on Sunday night.

Manning's 8-yard scoring pass to Demaryius Thomas late in the second quarter gave him a record 509 TD passes. His Broncos teammates playfully tried to keep the ball used for the record-setting score away from the veteran QB, but then they all retreated to the sidelines while pre-recorded messages from Denver general manager John Elway and Favre were shown on the video board. Manning added another TD pass later. He may hold every major passing record by the time he's finished playing. If Manning can get the Broncos (5-1) back to the Super Bowl and win, he'll have another distinct edge over Favre in all-time quarterback rankings: two rings.

San Francisco (4-3) played as if Manning, Elway and Favre were all throwing against them, never cutting the deficit to single-digits after the first quarter.

The Seahawks Are A Hot Mess

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A few weeks ago, the Seahawks beat the Broncos in overtime and seemed poised to go on the same type of run that led them to a Super Bowl title last season. Since then, Seattle (3-3) struggled to beat the Redskins, lost to the Cowboys at home, unceremoniously traded star receiver Percy Harvin to the Jets for a draft pick and were upset by the Rams, 28-26, in St. Louis on Sunday. Not good.

The Rams (2-4) used several amazing special teams plays, including a fake punt deep inside their own territory in the fourth quarter that sealed the win, to edge Seattle. The Seahawks' Russell Wilson threw for 313 yards and ran for 106 more, but he couldn't keep his team from falling to .500 on the season. The champs have time to rally into playoff contention, but they may not be able to divert the NFC road to the Super Bowl through Seattle again.

The Cowboys Are Streaking...So Are The Bengals

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DeMarco Murraybecame the first player in NFL history to start a season with seven straight games of 100-plus rushing yards, and the Cowboys beat the Giants, 31-21, on Sunday. Tony Romo had three touchdown passes for Dallas (6-1), which won six games in a row for the first time since 2007. New York (2-4) led early, but they were unable to stop the Cowboys' offense when it counted in the second half.

The Bengals are also streaking — in the opposite direction. Cincinnati (3-2-1) hasn't won since Week 3, extending its misery with a 27-0 loss to the Colts. Indianapolis (5-2) won its fifth straight game. The Colts held the Bengals to eight first downs and registered their first shutout since December 2008.

Aaron Rodgers Is Rolling and So Are the Packers

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Aaron Rodgersthrew for 255 yards and three touchdowns, and the Packers dominated the Carolina Panthers, 38-17, in Green Bay on Sunday. The Packers (5-2) led 28-3 at halftime and pulled Rodgers early in the fourth quarter with the game well in-hand. It was the sixth straight game that Green Bay's franchise quarterback hasn't thrown an interception; the Pack has won five of them.

Carolina (3-3-1) tallied two late scores in mop-up time. Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton was harassed all day by the oft-maligned Green Bay defense.

Colt McCoy and Kyle Orton Led Their Teams To Victory. Really.

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Several elite NFL quarterbacks helped their teams to wins on Sunday. So did Colt McCoy and Kyle Orton.

McCoy subbed in for an ineffective Kirk Cousins, and the Redskins edged the Titans, 19-17 in Landover, Md. on Sunday. McCoy directed a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Kai Forbath's game-winning, 22-yard field goal as time expired. His first pass was a 70-yard TD bomb to Pierre Garcon, as Washington (2-5) rallied from a 10-6 halftime deficit to beat Tennessee (2-5).

Kyle Orton threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Watkins with 1 second remaining and the Bills beat the Minnesota Vikings, 17-16, in Buffalo on Sunday. Orton wasn't exactly dominant — he had two turnovers and was sacked six times — but he did lead the Bills on the game-winning drive, his second of the season for Buffalo (4-3). Minnesota (2-5) dropped its third game in a row.

Other Scores

In other games, the Chiefs snapped the Chargers' five-game win streak on Cairo Santos' 48-yard field goal with 21 seconds left, and the Jaguars notched their first win in 2014.